Minneapolis chef Yia Vang will launch noodle pop-up in former Mucci's space

Ever since Yia Vang, one of the Twin Cities' most talked-about chefs, moved into the former Mucci's location (901 W. Lake St., Mpls.), necks have been craning to peer into the large windows, wondering what he would do with that space. Now, we have an answer.

The address, which has long been used by his team as prep space, now will also host rotating pop-ups. Slurp Pop Up Noodle Shop will open Jan. 4 and serve six noodle-centric dishes. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The temporary restaurant will operate under a new branch of restaurants known as Hilltribe, which falls under the Union Hmong Kitchen umbrella.

Vang first launched Union Hmong Kitchen as a pop-up. At the time, he said the restaurant's fluid location reflected that of the nomadic Hmong people, who utilized foods available to create delicious cuisine. One of dishes highest in demand during those early days was the was the brothy khao poon, which will be on the Slurp menu along with two other "brothy" bowls and three "saucy" ones. There also will be gluten-free and vegetarian options.

Slurp is the work of Vang as well as his operations director, chef Marshall Paulsen and chef de cuisine Mike Yuen.

The noodle pop-up marks the first of several planned for the Hilltribe space as an extension of Vang's growing restaurant empire. Union Hmong Kitchen continues to operate full time out of Graze food hall in the North Loop, and the long-anticipated restaurant Vinai is still in the works.